Teens May Mistake Sports Drinks as Good for Them

by John Gever John Gever,Senior Editor, MedPage Today
September 27, 2010

Action Points

Discuss with patients that a recent study indicates that teens with otherwise healthy lifestyles -- including physical activity -- often consume sports drinks and sugary fruit-flavored beverages in large quantities.

Further discuss that the study involved only teens living in Texas and therefore may not be generalizable to all teens living throughout the U.S.

Teens with otherwise healthy lifestyles often consume sports drinks and sugary fruit-flavored beverages in large quantities -- perhaps because they mistakenly believe these products are good for them, researchers suggested.

A survey of more than 15,000 middle- and high-school students in Texas found that those choosing these types of beverages over carbonated sodas also exercised harder and were more likely to eat healthy foods, according to Nalini Ranjit, PhD, and colleagues of the Michael and Susan Dell Center, at the University of Texas School of Public Health.

On the other hand, the researchers reported online in Pediatrics, higher consumption of fruit-flavored and sports drinks was also strongly associated with increased consumption of foods across the board -- including unhealthy meats, french fries, and desserts.

"These [dietary] practices may be universal in the adolescent population," Ranjit and colleagues wrote.

However, they also noted that young people who drank a lot of carbonated sodas showed significantly different dietary and exercise patterns, with only negative habits associated with increasing consumption.

"The most likely explanation for these findings is that FSBs [flavored and sports beverages] have been successfully marketed as beverages consistent with a healthy lifestyle, to set them apart from sodas," Ranjit and colleagues concluded.

They also noted that these drinks typically contain only small amounts of real fruit juice, with sugar contents that may rival those of traditional sodas.

Alex Diamond, DO, a sports medicine specialist at Vanderbilt University who was not involved with the study, agreed that teens may have been fooled by clever promotional schemes.

"Marketing has a great deal to do with the perception that sports drinks are generally healthy," he told ABC News and MedPage Today in an interview.

"They do have a role when it comes to prolonged activity or exercise, but certainly on a regular basis, it's not something that kids should be drinking just to get hydration," Diamond said, noting that such drinks seldom have significant nutritional value.

Ranjit and colleagues conducted their survey in 15,283Texas students in the eighth through 11th grades during the 2004-2005 school year. They queried the teens about their consumption of various foods and beverages and the number of days or hours they engaged in different activities.

In addition to days per week during which they engaged in vigorous exercise, the students were asked about their participation in physical education classes or organized sports -- along with hours spent watching television, using computers, and playing video games.

Their dietary reports were classified into six categories: unhealthy meats, french fries, desserts, whole vegetables, fresh fruits, and milk.

The results showed similar patterns among boys and girls, although the association between FSB consumption and relatively healthy diets was stronger in girls, whereas the relationship with exercise patterns was mainly evident in boys.

For example, girls who drank at least three FSBs daily were also significantly more likely to consume more vegetables, fruits, and milk (all P<0.05 for trends), but the only significant relationship for boys was with fruit consumption.

Boys who drank at least three FSBs daily tended to have more hours of vigorous exercise, to opt for gym class at school, and to participate in other organized physical activities (all P<0.05 for trends).

For girls, on the other hand, FSB consumption did not have a significant association with exercise. In fact, girls with heavy FSB consumption reported watching TV watching, computer use, and video gaming.

Across the board, the magnitude of these effects was relatively modest. For example, boys who said they drank at least three FSBs daily reported a mean of 5.18 days in which they had vigorous exercise weekly, compared with 4.38 days for those reporting zero FSBs and 4.48 days for those reporting drinking at least three conventional sodas.

Similarly, girls with the highest FSB consumption reported a mean of 1.00 servings of fruit daily, versus 0.74 among those who said they avoided such drinks and 0.80 for those drinking at least three carbonated sodas.

Ranjit and colleagues also highlighted some other findings they found noteworthy. One was that African-American students tended to drink fewer sodas and more FSBs compared with white or Hispanic participants. Another finding was that girls from lower-income households had higher soda consumption, but this pattern was less evident among boys.

The study's chief limitation was that students weren't asked directly about their perceptions of the healthiness of FSBs versus carbonated sodas. Ranjit and colleagues noted that the cross-sectional design did not permit conclusions about causality.

Other limitations included the study's reliance on the students' self-reports and a lack of detail in the survey instrument.

The study was also conducted in solely among Texas teens -- and therefore may not be generalizable to teenagers in other locations.

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